Rotary bolt door latch



Nov. 25, 1958 R. M. HEBI'I-IRT onn BOLT nooa LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 19, 1955 ATTORNEY Nov. 25,1958 R. M. HEBERT ROTARY BOLT DOOR LATCH Filed Jan. 19, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR United States ROTARY BOLT noon LATCH Application January 19, 1955, Serial No. 482,705

1 Claim. (Cl. 292-280) This invention relates to a door latch, and more particularly to an automobile door latch located remotely from the inside and outside operating means.

In the copending application of James D. Leslie entitled, Rotary Bolt Door Latch, filed June 23, 1954, as Serial No. 438,676, now Patent No. 2,796,276, granted June 18, 1957, a novel latch mechanism is disclosed and claimed, wherein the intermittent link through which the detent is operated is slidably mounted directly on the latch frame for sliding and pivotal shifting movement, and an antifriction hearing, which may be in the form of a nylon roller, is utilized to assure easy sliding operation of the link. In this device the latch is located adjacent the outside push button actuator, which operates directly on the intermittent link.

The latch shown and described herein comprises an improvement over the latch of Patent No. 2,796,276 in that it provides a structure adapted for use when the latch is located remotely from both the inside and outside handles. In the improved latch the latch frame is located some distance below the outside push button actuator and a bell crank lever and remote actuator are provided for connecting the push button actuator to the intermittent link. With this structure the direction of the push button force is changed, and the bell crank is formed as a multiplying lever so that the push button need be moved only a small distance to move the intermittent link, thereby decreasing the total push button movement necessary to open the door.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and from the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of an automobile having the improved door latch therein;

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the latch;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation facing the jamb face of the door, parts being broken away to show underlying structure; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section showing the mounting means for the intermittent link on the latch frame.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, in Fig. 1 an automobile is shown having a front door which is hinged at its front edge and which, adjacent its rear edge, carries a front door latch illustrated generally as 11. The automobile also has a rear door 12 with latching means which are not illustrated. The front door latch bolt engages a keeper on a body pillar 14, and the rear door is hingedly mounted on this pillar.

The latch parts are mounted on a frame having a body or plate portion 15 which, when the latch is mounted on the door, lies in a plane generally parallel to the jamb edge of the door as shown in Fig. 3, and a right angle flange portion 16 which lies in a plane generally parallel to the inner door panel. The plate portion 15 has countersunk threaded openings 17 through which screw 17a (see Fig. 3) extend for securing the latch frame to the jamb edge of the door.

The latch bolt 18 is in the form of a gear having a atent O 2,301,832 Patented Nov. 25, 1958 plurality of symmetrical and equally spaced teeth 19, the bolt being mounted on the squared shank of a shaft20 which is rotatably mounted on the frame plate 15. A bolt housing 21 is fastened to the outer surface of the plate 15 and rotatably supports the outer end of shaft 20. The housing 21 and the bolt 18 proiect out of the door through an opening provided in the edge thereof, and the bolt and housing engage a keeper structure to be hereinafterdescribed to hold the door latched.

On the inner surface of the plate 15 a cam 22 is fixedly mounted on the shaft 20, the end of the shaft being staked over at 23 to hold the parts in position. The bolt 18 and cam 22 are rigid with shaft 20, and the shaft is 1 freely rotatable in the latch frame 15 and bolt housing 21.

The cam 22 has a plurality of equally spaced asymmetrical teeth 24 which are adapted to be engaged by a detent lever 25 to hold the bolt against rotation in one direction (counterclockwise as the parts appear in Fig. 2). The detent lever 25 is pivotally mounted upon a stud 26 which projects from the inner surface of the plate 15, and a coil spring 27, which is mounted on the stud 26, has one end 28 engaging an car 29 on the free end of the detent. The other end of the spring is anchored on a stud 102 on the frame 15, and the spring biases the detent so that a foot 30 at the operating end of the detent is urged into engagement with the cam 22. g a

When the detent foot 30 is in engagement with th cam 22, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the door is held in latched position when closed. Of course, if the door is open, it may be closed without releasing the detent since the cam and bolt may rotate in a clockwise direction. Each of the cam teeth 24 is provided with a sloping cam surface 24a, and upon rotation of the cam and bolt in a clockwise direction, the detent 25 rides up over the sloping surface 24a; however, counterclockwise rotation of the cam and bolt is prevented by the generally radial but arcuate blocking surfaces 24b of each cam tooth.

In order to open the door, it is necessary to pivot the detent 25 in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 2) to free the bolt for counterclockwise rotation. This pivotal movement of the detent is accomplished through a multiplier lever 31 which is pivoted on a stud 32 and which has a detent actuating arm 33 engaged in a recess 34 in the detent lever. The multiplier lever also has a second relatively long arm 35 for operation by means of an outside actuator through an intermittent link, and a third relatively short arm 36 which extends through an opening 37 in the flange 16 for operation by an inside actuator.

As shown in Fig. l, the latch is located some distance below the outside door operator. Operation of the latch from outside the car is accomplished by means of a push button 38 (Figs. 1 and 3) which is slidable in a fixedly mounted handle 39 on the outer door panel. The push button acts through a push rod 4b which abuts a lever 41 pivoted on a bracket 42 in the door. The lever 41 is connected by a vertical rod to a relatively short arm 101a of a bell crank 101 which is pivoted on the frame 15 on the stud 102. Another relatively long arm 101b of the bell crank 101 extends upwardly and terminates in a turned flange 1010 which overlies a flange 43a which is turned from the outer end of an intermittent link 43. This link is mounted for horizontal sliding movement on the frame 15 and for pivotal shifting movement in vertical directions.

Link 43 is formed with an elongated slot 44 through which extends a stud 45. This stud projects through the frame 15, and the head of the stud is staked over the frame as shown in Fig. 4, the shank portion of the stud forming a shoulder so that the frame 15 is clamped between the shoulder and the staked head to mount the stud nonrotatably on the frame. A rolling hearing, which preferably is formed of nylon, is rotatably mounted on the shank of stud 45. The bearing includes a washer 46:; adjacent to the frame body and a roller portion, a head 46b and a reduced shank 46c engaging the face of the washer 46a so that the surface of the shank forms aperipheral groove 47 seating the opposite edges of slot 44. A spring washer 48 is located between the exposed surface of the rolling bearing 46 and the head 49 of the stud 45 to hold the bearing and the link 43 close against the surface of frame plate 15. This anti-friction mounting provides for easy longitudinal sliding movement of the link 43 on the bearing, the nylon bearing permitting movement of the link therealong with a minimum of friction and without jamming. Since the bearing is rotatable on the stud and since the friction imposed by the rotatable mounting and by the spring washer 48 is relatively light, pivotal shifting movement of the link 43 is permitted about the axis of stud 45. A spring 58 urges the link 43 toward the flange 101a of the bell crank 101, one end of the spring being hooked into a groove 49a in the head 49/ of stud 45, and the other end of the spring being hooked into the flange 43a on the outer end of the link 43. Since arm ltllb is longer than arm 101a, the bell crank acts as a multiplier to reduce the amount of push button movement necessary to move the intermittent link the distance required to open the door.

The inner end of the link 43 is formed as a fork having spaced arms 51 and 52 spaced by a slot 53. On the bottom of the arm 52 is a projection 54 which performs an undogging or unlocking function to be hereinafter described, and on the free end of arm 51 is a bent tab 55 which is part of the locking structure to be hereinafter described.

When the push button 38 is operated to open the door from outside the car, push rod 40, acting against lever 41, causes rod 180 to be lifted and bell crank 101 to be pivoted in a clockwise direction (Fig. 2), causing longitudinal sliding movement of link 43 so that the free end of arm 52 engages a bent tab 35a at the end of arm 35 of multiplier lever 31, pivoting the multiplier lever in a clockwise direction and the detent lever in a counterclockwise direction so that detent foot moves out of blocking relation to cam 22 and the bolt 18 is freely rotatable. With the parts in this position, the resilient Weatherstrip which seals the door will force the door open slightly.

The inside unlatching mechanism includes a remotely located inner turn handle 57 (Fig. 1) connected by a link 58 to a remote actuating rod 59. The lower end of this rod is connected to an arm 60 of a remote lever 61 which is formed as a bell crank and is pivoted intermediate its ends by a stud 63 on the flange 16 of the latch frame. The other arm 62 of the remote lever extends adjacent arm 36 of multiplier lever 31. When the remote handle 57 is turned, lever 61 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 2) to operate the multiplier lever 31 and the detent 25 and to free bolt 18. The remote lever operates in a recess 64 in the flange 16, and tabs 65 and 66 which are bent from the flange at opposite sides of the recess 64 provide stop means to limit the movement ofthe remote lever.

The latch may be locked from inside the car by means of a conventional garnish molding push button 68, or from outside the car by means of a key actuated lock 7 cylinder 69 (Fig, 1).

The locking means includes a trip lever 71 which is pivoted on the flange 16 on a rivet 72. The trip lever has spaced prongs 73 and 74 which are bent at right angles to lie in a plane parallel to the plate 15 and which straddle the tab 55 which is bent from intermittent'link arm 51. The trip lever is movable about the axis of rivet 72 between an unlocked position (Fig. 2) and a locked position defined by a stop tab (not shown) which is bent from lever 71 and extends through a slot 76 in the flange 16'. The opposite ends of the slot cooperate wi'tlix-the tab to stop movement of the trip lever, and an overcenter spring 77 holds the lever in either its'locked or unlocked position. In Fig. 2 trip lever 71 is in unlocked position, holding the longitudinally and pivotally movable intermittent link 43 in a position wherein arm 52 thereof is aligned with the tab 35a on the multiplier lever arm 35. With the parts in this position, operation of the outside push button will move the detent 25 out of engagement with the cam 22. If the trip lever 71 is pivoted in a counterclockwise direction to its locked position, carrying with it intermittent link 43 so that arm 2' is out of alignment with tab 35a, upon operation of the outside push button, the intermittent link merely free wheels, the tab 35:: sliding in the slot 53 in the intermittent link and the arm 52 of the intermittent link sliding past the multiplier lever tab 35a.

order to lock thedoor by means of a key from the outside, a connecting link 80 (Fig 2) extends downwardly from the trip lever 71 and is connected at its lower end to one end of a rockable locking lever 81 which is pivoted intermediate its ends on the plate 15 by means of a stud 82. The outer end of the locking lever is connected at 81:: to an actuator 84 connected to the locking cylinder 69. When the door is locked by means of a key, the actuator 84 is moved up to rock the locking lever 81 in a clockwise direction, pulling down on the connecting link 80 and moving the trip lever 71 and link 43 to locked position.

In order to lock the door from inside the car, the garnish molding push button 68 is pushed down. The button 68 is connected to the trip lever 71 through an actuating rod 85 and a bell crank 86, so that the trip lever is moved between locked and unlocked positions by means of the garnish molding button.

Fig. 3 shows the interengagement between the bolt 18 and the keeper to hold the door latched. The keeper comprises a generally C-shaped casting which is secured to the body pillar 14 by means of screWs91. The casting 90 is provided with a recess 92, and two integral teeth 93 and 94 project into the recess 92 along the lower side thereof. On the upper side of the recess 92, there is mounted a conventional spring-pressed sliding shoe 95 which preferably is formed from a block of nylon. When the door is closed, the upper surface of the bolt housing 21 engages the lower surface of the sliding shoe 95 and the gear teeth 19 of the bolt 18 engage the keeper tooth 93. The tooth 93 provides a safety latch, and when the door is in fully latched position, a latch tooth 19 rides over inside the keeper tooth 94 as shown in Fig 3.

The latch includes so-called automatic undogging and remote undogging combined with keyless locking. Because of the automatic undogging feature, it is impossible for the operator to lock himself out of the car inadvertently, because whenever the door is closed the latch is automatically shifted to unlocked condition unless the operator consciously acts to obtain keyless locking. The tab 54 which projects from the bottom of the arm 52 of intermittent link 43 is adapted to abut a small projection 98 on the detent lever 25. Therefore, if the door is closed with the latch locked, counterclockwise pivotal movement of the detent as the bolt 18 rides over the keeper teeth 93 and 94 will cause interengagement of the tab 54 and projection 98 to shift the intermittent link 43 and trip lever 71 to unlocked condition.

Similarly, by means of the remote undogging feature, the door may be opened through the inside handle regardless of whether the latch is in locked or unlocked condition. Operation of the remote handle moves the detent 25 through the multiplier lever 31 and the remote lever 61, so that the undogging projection 98 engages the tab 54 and shifts the parts to unlocked condition.

Despite the fact that normal closing of the door will automatically undog the latch or shift the parts to unlocked condition, the construction provides for keyless locking whenever the operator consciously desires to lock the door without using a key. In order to lock the door without a key, it is merely necessary to depress the garnish molding button 68 when the door is open, thus shifting the trip lever 71 and intermittent link 43 to locked condition and then to push in on the outside push button while the door is being closed. Operation of the outside push button shifts the intermittent link 43 longitudinally so that its undogging tab 54 is out of the path of movement of the projection 98 on the detent 25, and the parts are not shifted to unlocked condition upon counterclockwise pivotal movement of the detent lever.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim:

An automobile door latch of the character described, including: a latch frame having a body lying in a plane generally parallel to the jamb face of the door; latching means comprising a multitoothed bolt rotatably mounted on the outside of said body and a multitoothed ratchet mounted on the inside of said body for rotation with said bolt; a detent pivotally mounted on said body and having a foot adapted to engage said ratchet to block rotary movement of the ratchet and bolt in one direction; a multiplier lever pivotally mounted on said body and having a short first arm connected to said detent, a longer second arm and a short third arm; an operating link; means for mounting said link on said body adjacent said second arm for slidable movement and for pivotal movement between operative and inoperative positions, said second arm lying in the path of sliding movement of said link when the link is in operative position and lying outside the path of said sliding movement of said link when the link is in inoperative position; means for pivoting said link; means for moving said link longitudinally, comprising a bell crank pivotally mounted on said body below said link and having an upwardly extending first arm terminating adjacent said link for sliding said link upon pivotal movement of said bell crank, said bell crank having a horizontally extending arm which is shorter than said bell crank first arm; outside operating means comprising a push button located remotely from said latch frame; means including a rod and lever connecting the horizontally extending arm of the bell crank to said push button; and inside operating means comprising a handle located remotely from said latch frame, a hook lever on the latch frame having a hook portion overlying the third arm of said multiplier lever and a rod conmeeting the hook lever and the handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,249,472 Painter et al. Dec. 11, 1917 2,221,181 Dall Nov. 12, 1940 2,249,018 Marple July 15, 1941 2,362,256 Endter Nov. 7, 1944 2,641,495 Leslie et al. June 9, 1953 2,705,884 Craig Apr. 12, 1955 

